CEO Group Urges Raising Social Security, Medicare Enrollment Age to 70

The Business Roundtable, a business group consisting of several hundred CEOs from prominent companies, has requested that Congress gradually raise the age of eligibility for Social Security from the current 67 to 70. The proposal is among a raft of measures the Roundtable is recommending to shore up the troubled finances of America's entitlement programs.

According to a press release detailing the measures, the Roundtable believes its ideas will "ensure the solvency of the [Social Security] program for the next 75 years." In addition to lifting the Social Security eligibility age, the group also recommends pegging cost-of-living adjustments to a lower measure of inflation, among other moves.

The Roundtable also provided a set of recommendations for adjusting Medicare. These proposals include a similar rise in age eligibility, the introduction of "competing and comprehensive private plans" as an alternative to the program, and reducing the cost burden for higher-earning beneficiaries.